Monday, August 23, 2010

Tomato, one after another

the tomato,
star of earth, recurrent
and fertile
star,
displays
its convolutions,
its canals,
its remarkable amplitude
and abundance,
no pit,
no husk,
no leaves or thorns,
the tomato offers
its gift
of fiery color
and cool completeness.

Pablo Neruda - Ode To Tomatoes

4 new tomato plants,
just transplanted on the raised bed. on the left is the bushy flowering and fruiting winged beans. On the right is a single okra, basil, coleus, halia (ginger) and kunyit (tumeric). The four stakes are of light weight bamboo brought here from Sitiawan, Kakdah's mom place.

another two tomato in pots,
already flowering and staked with bamboo.

four matured tomato plants on raised bed.

They look healthy but rather lanky due to shady environment.
The plants are flowering , with little fruits visible already. Two bigger plants are planted earlier. The other two younger plants awere added later to replace a plant that had wilted.

many more young seedlings
ready to grow anywhere in the garden.

Because tomato is easy to germinate,
it is handy to have them ready intermittently,
so that tomato plant is always in the garden,
one after another.

16 comments:

Your plants are so healthy, what fertiliser are you using Bangchik? My tomato seeds are germinating right now, can you give some tips an expert by now, judging from the number of tomato seedlings you have.

P3chandan.Poultry fertiliser in pellets. Easy to handle. I mix them early during soil preparation, and place a spoon or two around the base after the seedlings had been transplanted on the ground or final pots. That is the basic food for tomato. After a couple of attempts you should a general feel, how to pamper these interesting plants.

Tatyana.Sorry to hear about the poor season you had. Over here, sky is mostly cloudy but it seldom falls as rains, weird kind of weather, cool and dry. I hope it will be kind to tomato

Some say 'tomaato', some say 'tomeato'. But it all means the same yellowish red fruit we love to eat. I heard tomatoes are a good diet preventing cancer, also very rich in vit A and C! So great planting Bangchik, it's a wonderful idea to have seedlings ready so you have continuous supply for tomatoes and keeping the great nutrition at all time high.

Thanks everyone for the visits and comments. I plan for all year tomato, one after another.

I don't take seeds from tomato we grow, all end up on dinner plates. We take seeds from tomato kakdah bought from the market. We take seeds from the best looking tomato.

After a while, germinating them become easy. But growing them remains difficult. Wilting remains a problem that will take away one or two young plants away. Squeezing tomato in between other plants are not easy here. It is easy for them to lose out fighting for space, roots and foliage. Having a bed for themselves is a thing we found out a prequisite for early growth and excellent produce.